Project CARS "simply too much" for Wii U as development on the console is cancelled

Slightly Mad Studios has announced that the upcoming version of Project CARS on the Wii U has been cancelled as the console does not have the processing power to cope with the game’s graphical demands. The company has hinted that the racing sim may get a release on Nintendo’s upcoming NX console, providing the new hardware is capable.

A representative for the UK studio, creative director Andy Tudor, has apologized to Wii U owners who hoped that the popular game would ship on Nintendo's machine. The full statement reads:

Despite much perseverance on the Wii U version of Project CARS we will no longer be actively pursuing development on it as the quality does not meet our own high standards nor our intended vision for the title on this platform.

We eagerly look forward to any announcement of further hardware from Nintendo but right now Project CARS is simply too much for Wii U despite our very best efforts.

Apologies to our Nintendo fans out there that have been waiting for further news on this but have no desire to release a product that isn’t at the very least comparable with our highest-rated versions on other platforms. We optimistically look forward therefore to what the future may hold.

Earlier this year, studio head of Project Cars Ian Bell admitted that it was a big challenge to launch the game on the Wii U, amid reports of the frame rate dropping to “about 23 frames per second” on the console.

Project CARS was released in May on the Xbox One, PS4 and PC to mostly positive reviews. Critics praised the game’s immersive, beautiful graphics, but the high fidelity racing sim pushed consoles, and some PCs, to their limits.

The game was funded by backers using the World of Mass Development platform, which raised over $4 million for the project. Less than a month after the original’s release, Slightly Mad Studios started a crowdfunding campaign to make Project CARS 2.

They'll likely catch a lot of flack for the decision, but it is refreshing to see a company kill a sub-par product for a change, instead of forcing the issue and disappointing everyone with a full priced headache.

It's unfortunate, but nobody really thinks of the Wii U as a simulation platform, other than The Sims obviously but that's simple graphics and a huge waste of time, not really a game, has zero benefits to man kind. Where was I going with this?

Oh Yeah, the Wii U and it's lack of graphical fidelity, is anyone actually disappointing by this anymore? Nintendo made their choice to appeal to the less hardcore market and has does well for themselves, but a graphical power house they are not.

Wii U is a pretty great console. It's not on par with PS4 or Xbox One in the graphics, but it doesn't have to be. One thing I hear is how Wii U is not for hard core gamers. Well, I think if your a hard core gamer, you don't limit yourself to graphics. I still play Nes, and some of the games on it are hard as hell, but I keep playing despite the lack in graphics of the system. I would be ok with a lesser version of the game for the Wii u if it was done well. Maybe give it some new tracks, a few less cars, and call it Wii u edition.

The Wii U needed a racer like this. They could have dumbed it down to a last gen Gran Turismo or Forza with a little optimization but let's face it, they didn't want to waste the time or money to sell a few 10k copies of a subpar version on a dead system.